CATARACT AND LENS IMPLANTATION IN VITRECTOMIZED EYES

Cataract is a frequent complication of vitreous surgery after some mon ths or years. In these cases cataract extraction is somewhat difficult . We performed cataract surgery with implantation in 38 eyes from 37 p atients between 1986 and 1991. Twenty patients underwent vitreous or v itreoretinal surgery with or without internal tamponade by gas, 17 und erwent silicone oil tamponade and silicone oil removal, prior to catar act sugery. Timing of surgery, number of surgical procedures and compl ications previous to cataract surgery are detailed in the paper. Catar act extraction was extracapsular in 7 cases, intracapsular in 6 cases; phako was performed in 24 cases and phacophagy in one case. A posteri or IOL was inserted in 31 cases, an anterior chamber IOL in 7 cases. A natomical and visual results were satisfying. Visual acuity improved p ostoperatively in 29 cases (up to 20/20 in 4 cases), was unchanged in 6 cases, decreased in 3 cases. Among these, loss of vision occurred in 5 cases due to retinal detachment or redetachment. For anatomical rea sons, lack of vitreous support and the frequent zonular weakness of th ese eyes, account for surgical difficulties. Thus, phakoemulsification appears the best way to manage cataract in vitrectomized eyes.